Homeowners and others who tend to lawns and gardens often need to gather waste such as leaves, weeds, branches, and other plant matter for disposal in garbage bags. Such garbage bags, which typically have a 20-40 gallon capacity, are generally made of thin and flexible but durable plastic and are provided in the form of folded or rolled sheets which may be unfolded into baglike form. Many communities are now requiring that special types of garbage bags be used for disposal of yard and other organic waste. Such bags are often made of highly biodegradable plastic, and/or are specially colored for tallying by sanitation workers who may limit the number of bags that can be disposed within a given time period, or who may levy per-bag charges for disposal of yard waste.
Difficulty is often encountered when filling the aforementioned garbage bags during yard work. Initially, the garbage bags are not rigid, and thus the bag rim surrounding the bag mouth tends to sag downwardly during filling unless it is supported by a user. However, when the user is gathering waste to place in the bag, the user generally does not have hands free to maintain the sides of the bag in an upright position. Further, garbage bags, and particularly the aforementioned "special" yard waste bags, often suffer from the disadvantage that they are not appropriately sized for convenient use: the bag mouths can be so narrow that it is difficult for the user to insert a large mass of leaves, weeds, or other voluminous waste into the bag, particularly when both hands are needed to hold and insert such matter.